The Ding family in the State of Song had no well of its own. Someone in the family sometimes had to spend a whole day doing nothing but fetch water from a distance. To solve the trouble they had a well sunk in their courtyard.

宋国有一户姓丁的人家,由于自家没井,每次都要花一整天时间到很远的地方去担水。为了解决这个问题,他们决定自己在院子里凿一口井。

After the job was finished, they said to one another happily, “It seems with the sinking of the well one more person is added to our family.”

井挖好了,他们高兴地逢人就说:“有了这口井,田里也就多增加了一个劳动力,再也不用费神老远去担水了。”

One of Ding’s friends heard of the remark and passed the word from the friend to the friend and yet to another, until the story ran as the follow words, “The Dings had a well sunk and found a man inside!”

丁家的一个朋友听到了这些,就把这话说给别人听,结果一传十,十传百,开始的一句话就变成了“丁家凿了一口井,在井里发现了一个人。”

When the Duke of Song heard the tale, he sent for Ding to inquire into the matter. “With the sinking of the well it is as if your obedient servant has had the help of a man,” explained Ding to the Duke. “It doesn’t mean that I actually found a man in the well.”